Photo courtesy of Lorie Shaull via Flickr. According to Gigi Picard '22, one reason for the recent increased viewership of women's sports is the activism of athletes like Megan Rapinoe, above.
By Lauren Leese ’23
Staff Writer
While men’s sports have traditionally dominated news coverage and brand sponsorships, this may not be the case in the future. Recent data show that women’s sports are significantly rising in popularity among TV audiences, and the gains are likely just beginning.
A Forbes article published on Nov. 28 reported that new statistics from Samba TV showed vast growth in women’s sports viewership in the past year. Much of the increase was driven by Gen Z viewers, 39 percent of whom reported watching more women’s sports than they did a year ago, as compared to 25 percent of sports fans overall, according to the National Research Group.
Per Samba TV, the 2022 Women’s March Madness saw a year-over-year viewership increase of 81 percent, while the men’s tournament only enjoyed an 18 percent year-over-year increase. Game 1 of the 2022 Women’s National Basketball Association finals saw a 171 percent increase in viewership, totaling more than double the ratings of every other finals game that aired on cable TV. By comparison, viewership for the men’s Game 1 only increased by 25 percent. The men’s Major League Soccer final only rose in viewership by 15 percent, while the National Women’s Soccer League championship match pulled in 453 percent more viewers than the previous year, Samba TV reported.
However, Samba TV’s report may not hold the full story. Gigi Picard ’22, a former varsity athlete and Sports editor for Mount Holyoke News who is currently studying for her masters in sports administration at Northwestern University, indicated that focusing only on increases in viewership for championship games is not representative of how far women’s sports has come in recent years.
“It’s great that ratings went up during the [WNBA] finals,” Picard said. “But not talking about the regular season is disappointing. It does not tell you the growth that matters when discussing the rise of women’s sports.” Speaking specifically about the enormous increase in views for the NWSL championship match, Picard said that a focus on that one game “underestimated the growth of the National Women’s Soccer League and women’s soccer overall.” She continued, “Solely examining the NWSL championship is not a reflection of the league.”
Forbes contributor Toni Fitzgerald speculated about the reasons for the heightened interest in women’s sports. 50 years after the passing of Title IX in 1972, increasing numbers of women have begun participating in sports. Before Title IX, 15 percent of college athletes were women. In 2022, that number is 44 percent, according to Rutgers. More women participating in sports, Fitzgerald wrote, led to more women becoming interested in watching sports. In the specific case of the NWSL game, Fitzgerald guessed that a scandal within the league involving several recent reports of abuse and harassment by NWSL coaches toward their players, as NPR reported, may have created more publicity for the league and thus raised viewership.
According to Picard, increased publicity for women’s sports often comes from the athletes’ activism. “Players are using platforms on and off the field to bring awareness to issues within women’s sports,” Picard said. This in turn creates dedicated fan bases for these players. “When Megan Rapinoe and Alex Morgan step onto the field, the crowd goes absolutely nuts,” Picard added.
Picard also referenced the increased support for National Collegiate Athletics Association women’s basketball that came after player Sedona Prince posted a viral video to the internet in March of 2021 showing the difference between the men’s well-equipped weightlifting facilities and the single rack of hand weights provided for the women’s teams. “Prince’s video and everything that followed had an influence on viewership,” Picard said.
While increases in viewership may have been kickstarted by players speaking out against mistreatment and inequality in their sports, Picard indicated that brand deals show promising signs that growth in women’s sports will continue. “Despite the NWSL controversies, Nike extended their deal with the NWSL until 2030 because they have faith in the league,” Picard said.
Just last month, several new opportunities for women’s sports coverage became available to fans. The ad-supported streaming service Women’s Sports Network, which focuses only on women athletes, launched on Nov. 2 across a variety of carriers. The New York Times-owned sports outlet The Athletic announced a new partnership with Google on Nov. 22 that aims to double women’s sports coverage from 900 articles to 1,800 articles over the next few years. This latter effort will involve hiring new journalists to cover women’s sports, utilizing Google-supported ads to drive viewers to the new coverage and increasing newsletter and podcast offerings that discuss women athletes and teams.
While Picard expressed appreciation for The Athletic’s efforts at making women’s sports more visible, she felt they still have a way to go. “The Athletic aiming for 1,800 [articles covering women’s sports] sounds like a good start,” Picard said. “But if they want to make a difference, 1,800 sounds low to me. I see the need to partner with women-led media companies. Some of them are run by current or former professional athletes across women’s leagues.”
Picard also highlighted podcasts as an area for improvement in the sports world when it comes to including women. “There is a problem when it comes to sports podcasting,” she said. “I keep seeing episodes that have solely or predominantly male guests. There is not enough attention on women in the sports industry, particularly in the front office.” The Athletic’s focus on new women’s sports podcasts may go some way toward helping this discrepancy.
There is still a long way to go for equality in sports coverage. According to Forbes, only women’s Olympic gymnastics and women’s ice skating are currently on par with their men’s sport counterparts for ratings. However, the current trend is promising for the future of women’s sports.